It is a widely recognized fact that no two individuals have identical shapes. Some people are tall, some are small. Some people are overweight, some are thin. Besides being right or left handed, we hold tools, writing instruments and sports equipment differently. Even our fingers are not shaped exactly as another person with the same weight. Our ears, noses, feet, mouth, face and knees for example, are constantly being formed into an unnatural shape by designed products made to fit to an average human. Therefore, the structure and technique of the present invention is useful adapting a personal feature to an object.
According to the following inventions,
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,924 to Southey dated Feb. 5, 1980 describes a molded golf club grip with three different radian widths along its longitudinal axis to facilitate the hand of a user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,569 to Hashimotto et al. dated Mar. 27, 1990, describes a writing instrument formed of a fluid enclosed body that is axially displaced by a writer's fingers that is restored to its original shape when released.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,570 to Bar et al. dated Mar. 17, 1992, describes making an insole for a foot by enclosing an uncured expandable resin along with a container of a curing agent with at least one hole in the container to activate the resin and to allow the resin, when hardened, to preserve the contour of the bottom of the foot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,868 to Dellis dated Oct. 20, 1992, describes a moldable hand grip formed of an inner thermoplastic layer and an outer layer which, by heating both to a temperature of boiling water and cooling quickly; grasping before cooling will cause the thermoplastic inner layer to retain the hand shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,847 to Scarberry et al. describes a seal and face mask formable to a user's facial features but is non functional with shear forces of any kind and it can be reformed back to its original shape with heat.
While the structural arrangements and the steps described to achieve these prior arrangements, at first appearance, have similarities with the present invention, they differ in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail presently, are important for the effective use of the invention to achieve its advantages.
Several attempts have made to adapt an average human to relatively hard objects. Car steering wheels are formed on the backside for the average person's fingers. Bicycle hand grips are formed much the same way. A computer mouse is shaped for the average person, yet it fits no one perfectly. Most keys on keyboards have concave top surfaces in an attempt to fit the ends of most fingers, so they don't slip to another key when typing.
The softness of an object is another way to attempt to adapt a person to an object. The range has varied from hard rubber to soft silicone gel where the fingers contact a writing instrument, for example. Earphones are generally made out of soft material or forms to approximately fit a person's ear canal to the sound making structure. Soft, pliable foam materials are found in pens, bicycle grips and on some golf club grips. The shortcoming is they do not adapt a person's features to an object. The features are simply temporarily displacing or compressing those materials. There is little or no lateral support, other than friction, to prevent the object from slipping out of your fingers. The goal is to perfectly fit a person's features to drastically reduce stress or fatigue.
The present invention is adaptable for use in connection with several different objects such as power tools, weapons, writing instruments, foot inserts, ballerina slippers, hearing aids, lifting weight grips and bicycle grips. Other objects with a handle include, for example, a hammer, baseball bat, or a golf club. Any of these things can be personalized for any particular individual by using the structure and technique of the invention.
It is an object of the invention to provide a structure and technique for adapting any physical object to any other physical object.
It is another object of the invention to provide a structure and technique for personalizing office articles, sports equipment, tools and medical devices.